Photo gallery: Gillman Barracks reopen with museum-style exhibition

This is a Painter and Model work by Pablo Picasso woth at Partners & Mucciaccia gallery in Gillman Barracks. It is worth 5 million euros. -- PHOTO: JOHN HENG

Gillman barracks has been transformed into a beautiful art cluster. -- PHOTO: JOHN HENG

Gillman Barracks also has several installation works scattered about the vicinity. -- PHOTO: JOHN HENG

Stills from Sensing Obscurity (I,II,III) (2012), by Erika Tan, is on display at the exhibition, Gillman Barracks: Encounter, Experience And Environment. Sensing Obscurity (I,II,III), a work in three parts, filmed in an English manor house, is set at a moment in time when China’s ascendance as a global power has given rise to an opportunity to re-visit history. -- PHOTO: ELIZA GLUCKMAN

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (2012), an acrylic on outdoor wall fixture by Heman Chong is on display at the exhibition, Gillman Barracks: Encounter, Experience And Environment. This outdoor installation, referencing the famous short story by Raymond Carver, is part of Chong’s art practice which involves an investigation into the philosophies, reasons and methods of individuals and communities imagining the future. -- PHOTO: HEMAN CHONG

Stills from Sensing Obscurity (I,II,III) (2012), by Erika Tan, is on display at the exhibition, Gillman Barracks: Encounter, Experience And Environment. Sensing Obscurity (I,II,III), a work in three parts, filmed in an English manor house, is set at a moment in time when China’s ascendance as a global power has given rise to an opportunity to re-visit history. -- PHOTO: ELIZA GLUCKMAN

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (2012), an acrylic on outdoor wall fixture by Heman Chong is on display at the exhibition, Gillman Barracks: Encounter, Experience And Environment. This outdoor installation, referencing the famous short story by Raymond Carver, is part of Chong’s art practice which involves an investigation into the philosophies, reasons and methods of individuals and communities imagining the future. -- PHOTO: HEMAN CHONG

Stills From Kontakthope (2010), a two channel video installation by Ming Wong is on display at the exhibition, Gillman Barracks: Encounter, Experience And Environment. -- PHOTO: MING WONG

By Deepika Shetty

It was the art party of the year on Friday night as a who's who of the international and Singapore art scenes turned up at the Gillman Barracks' official opening.

Among the luminaries were Japanese pop artists Yoshitomo Nara and Hiroshi Sugito, Chinese painter Zhang Enli and Filipino installation artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan. They were flown in by the galleries representing them, including Japan's Tomio Koyama, China's ShangART and the Philippines' The Drawing Room.

These galleries are among the 13 which have opened new branches at the former British army barracks, which used to house restaurants and bars.

Arts writer and author Woon Tai Ho, 53, said: "Gillman is just the right size as it has an international mix of galleries which are promising quality art. I think having a cluster of galleries always helps. If you need a trip out for a dose of art in Singapore, this would be it. Gillman will be for the arts what Dempsey has been for lifestyle and F&B. But I would not like it to morph into China's Beijing's 798 Art District, which in recent years has become too much of a tourist destination.